Canterbury student launches into US aerospace industry with Brooke Owens Fellowship
A University of Canterbury student will be rocketing from her lectures and labs into the American aerospace industry this year after she won a prestigious Brooke Owens Fellowship – the only New Zealander and first person from the Southern Hemisphere to become a fellow.
The Brooke Owens Fellowship – a non-profit US program recognising exceptional undergraduate women and other gender minorities with space and aviation internships, senior mentorship, and a lifelong professional network – announced its newest, most diverse class of Brooke Owens Fellows today (28 January NZ time).
Berry says it felt “unreal and slightly overwhelming” to discover she would be the first person from Australasia to join the American aerospace fellowship. During her second year at the University of Canterbury, she interned at Rocket Lab’s New Zealand headquarters, sparking her interest in applying for the Brooke Owens fellowship.
“I feel extremely blessed to be able to call myself a ‘Brookie’ alongside incredible women and gender minorities committed to driving two shared missions – to expand our reach into the universe and to disrupt the historical gender imbalance in the aerospace industry. Both these missions go hand-in-hand,” says Berry, who moved from Auckland to Christchurch to study towards her Mechanical Engineering Bachelor of Engineering with Honours degree at the University of Canterbury.
“It is a huge privilege to be in a position to uplift and support other young women and gender minorities in this part of the world with their future applications and in their journeys in the aerospace sector.”